This study marks the end of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development that coincides with the 10th anniversary of the Baltic and Black Sea Circle Consortium on Educational Research (BBCC), and aims to analyse the research output performance of BBCC members and other scholars published in the Journal of Teacher Education for Sustainability (JTEFS) during this last decade. Using the methodology of bibliometric study and literature review, the authors describe the main bibliographic indicators of JTEFS and provide a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the research paradigms and their developmental changes in the papers published by JTEFS (2005ñ2014). The results of the study show that in general the journal has evolved in line with the advanced trends in educational research, research in teacher education, research in sustainability education and sustainability studies in higher education. The analysis of published papers indicates both the progress and issues of research in teacher education for sustainability. The authors conclude with some visionary insights into the further development of JTEFS and this research field in general.To achieve its goals, research in any discipline needs to be disseminated both locally and globally, and for novel fields of study, the establishment of academic periodicals designates a certain maturity and illustrates striving towards academic quality and recognition. This extensive paper is the first attempt to focus on research in the field of teacher education (TE) for sustainability through the publications of the Journal of Teacher Education for Sustainability from 2005 to 2014. This period coincides with the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD); therefore, framing the research development in TE in line with local and global needs and contexts.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe the research preferences and differences of education for sustainable development (ESD) researchers. A model with the continuums assimilation‐accommodation and adaptation‐agency was applied resulting in quantitative, qualitative, theoretic and participative research orientations.Design/methodology/approachReunamo's general model of agentive perception was used to design the 32‐item questionnaire, Research for ESD so as to reveal the degree to which the researchers are accommodating their thoughts and actions to real phenomenon, and considering their research as having theoretical or practical agency. The questionnaire was administered to 83 ESD researchers, mainly from European countries.FindingsThe most valuable discovery was the desire of ESD researchers to contribute to societal development. The results describe the first continuum of research activity with the need for opening up to the requisites and possibilities of environmental change while applying the existing prerequisites of scientific rigour and validity. The second continuum highlights the research as a knowledge resource for just political or individual choices on the one hand, and the direct application of the models and actions for needed change on the other hand.Research limitations/implicationsIt would be difficult to create a reliable register of ESD researchers worldwide. Thus, the opportunity sample of ESD researchers available to the authors was used in the study.Practical implicationsThe model, after adjustments, appears to be a promising tool in the study of research orientations. To study complex and controversial subjects such as sustainable development, the researchers need to be aware of their preferences and orientations.Originality/valueThe paper shows the possibilities of the agentive perception model in the case of ESD researchers.

This paper aims to present some conceptual insights into the research paradigm of complexity that deals with such problems like sustainability, education, and, more specifically – sustainability education. The transdisciplinary perspective and cognitive approaches of a hermeneutical cycle and semantic waves used in argumentation assist in grasping the essence of complexity and the main principles of complex dynamic systems. The comparison of simple, complicated and complex systems in a field of sustainability education provides an example of using complexity thinking with social systems. Then the complexity in an epistemological context, as the research paradigm, could be used for dealing with the challenging problems of sustainability, education and sustainability education from the point of view of post-normal science. The concept of transdisciplinarity has been developed as a research framework starting from the general approaches to its application for sustainability, education and sustainability education. The specific types of collaboration in educational research for sustainability and the modes of knowledge produced by transdisciplinary research in this field will be described, ending with reflections and suggestions for further analysis.

Individual in-depth, semi-structured interviews with three mathematics teachers were conducted to investigate the dynamics of their life-long relationships with mathematics, synthesised as mathematical identity from different identity positions in the context of dialogical self. The qualitative data were scrutinised employing interpretive phenomenological analysis that displayed mostly positive instrumental relationships with mathematics and explicit connections between the teachersí life experiences and their disctinct identity voices that surfaced in interviews. Similarly, teachers appeared to be experts in different professional spheres: pedagogy, subject or didactics. The teachersí accounts contain various models of relationships between the other-motive and the self-motive as reflected in their pedagogical approaches. Emergent patterns resulting from the interaction of the teachersí mathematical identity and their perception of studentsí mathematical philia/phobia included the humanistic approach with an instrumental interpretation of mathematics and its teaching methods, self-actualisation in achieving success in mathematics through hard work and the issue of attribution of failure in mathematics either to external or internal factors. Moreover, these dialogical models and interactive patterns show alignement with one of the core competences for educators in education for sustainable development, that is, achieving transformation in what it means to be an educator, in teaching and learning, as well as in the entire education system. Practical implementation of findings and limitations of the study are outlined along with venues for future research.

This study aims to explore the research orientation of the papers published in the Journal of Teacher Education for Sustainability (JTES) immediately after the UN Decade of ESD (2015–2018). Through following the guidelines of bibliometric study and literature review, and by grounding on the deductive qualitative and quantitative content analysis, the paper presents the analysis of the main bibliometric indicators and research paradigms in the papers published in JTES. Moreover, the changes in these indicators and paradigms in comparison with those encountered in JTES from 2005 to 2014 were recorded and critically inspected. In general, the study shows the gradual improvement and development of main bibliometric indicators and research paradigms in last four years of JTES. The main recommendations and suggestions provided in the previous study have been implemented and considered in the Journal’s general features and published papers, though, the current exploration indicates also some unrealized potential for improvement. At the end of paper the author states the main conclusions, limitations, suggestions for the further research and prospective development of the Journal, as well as some implications for the potential authors of JTES.

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This paper reports on a study undertaken to investigate international perspectives of what constitutes research in education for sustainable development (ESD). By employing inductive thematic content analysis, the authors sought to examine the perceptions of 66 ESD researchers from 19 countries. The findings reveal a concern with the methodological aspects of research and an emergent need for synergy between the methodology of educational research and specific themes relevant to ESD research. The significant overlap of themes and aspects of ESD research apparent across the different contexts within which the researchers were embedded indicates a unified core of ESD research, although there is also evidence of contextual factors influencing the research agenda. Based on the findings of this study, the paper concludes that there is an overlap between educational research and ESD research, but that the latter has its own specific aims, themes and political supporters. In an endeavour to develop a shared understanding about ESD research across disciplines and research context, a common language has to be developed to facilitate a constructive dialogue and research capacity building in this novel field.

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